The Circle Turns
by Bekaji
Summary: Outside, he is happy. Inside,he is being slowly torn apart. What will happen when Oscar finds out what his friends have hidden from him? When Rose finds out where her old friends are? Will all be lost as they piece this mystery together? /DISCONTINUED/
1. Odd Happenings

**This is my first fanfic so hope you enjoy!:)**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own M.I. High, CBBC does.**

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As he walked into the room, he felt something wrong. Something odd in the air. Then it struck him. It was so close to Valentine's Day. That was probably why. Smiling slightly, he shook his head.

"Hey, Oscar," Avril greeted him brightly. "What are you doing for Valentine's Day?" She opened her eyes wide and innocent, a faint smile brushing her lips.

Normally Oscar would've answered with something typical: "Oh, nothing", or "Why do you want to know?" This time, however, he felt an inclination to answer vaguely with the truth. "Oh, I'm going to be out and about, you know. Not the regular, though. Maybe go and hang with some friends."

Catching Carrie's eye from across the classroom, he winked slightly. "What are _you_ going to do?"

Before Avril could answer, Mrs. King barged into the room, flaunting several large A2 paper-and-cardboard posters. "Alright, students," she said brusquely. "The Valentine's Dance is going to be on Thursday, starting at 6 and ending at 10. Who will volunteer to help me hang up these posters?"

Without a thought, Avril raised her hand. "Miss—" she began but Mrs. King cut her off.

"Very thoughtful, Avril. I want you to take four of these posters and pin them to the notice boards outside Mr. Flatley's office. I'm quite sure you are capable of that," Mrs. King announced. Then, noticing the frustrated look on Avril's face, she asked, "Do you have a problem, Avril?"

The schoolgirl frowned and absent-mindedly picked off a piece of fluff from her light yellow tank top, then flicked her straight black hair – with a streak of purple down the left side – and cried out, "Do you know how many trees you killed _just_ to promote the dance?" Without waiting for an answer, she continued ranting, "Why couldn't you have made it with recycled paper, at least? Do you know how big your carbon footprint is…?"

At this point, Oscar's communicator began to flash. He pressed lightly on the eraser to signify that he had gotten the signal. Casually turning sideways, he noticed Carrie pocketing her communicator and gathering her books. Behind her, Rose made no effort to stop the flashing communicator. Instead, she shoved it deeper into her jacket pocket and continued talking to Donovan.

_Hmmm_, Oscar thought. _That's funny. Why isn't Rose responding? She's usually the first one to the storeroom, what's with her?_

Beside him, Oscar could feel Carrie beginning to fidget. At last, out of pure exasperation, she slung her backpack over her shoulder and pushed rudely past Rose out into the corridor. "Rose," Carrie hissed. "Don't you remember? Science project!"

Rose tilted her head slightly upwards. "Can't we do it later?" she asked lightly. "I mean, you're going to be fine on your own, aren't you?"

Carrie's face was flushed. "Fine," she snapped. "If you're going to be like that, then fine!"

Oscar raised his eyebrows momentarily then partially excused himself from Avril, who wasn't paying attention anyway. She was too busy raging at a bewildered Mrs. King.

Stopping adjacent to Rose on his way out, he whispered angrily, "We need to work as a _team_."

Tension filled the air between the two pupils, until Rose lazily batted her eyelashes and replied unerringly, "Yeah, whatever. I'll catch up to you guys later."

Out in the corridor, Oscar bumped into Carrie, who was impatiently tapping her foot.

"How did it go?" Carrie asked without expression.

"She said she would come later," Oscar answered briefly. "So what do we do now? We can hardly turn up in HQ without Rose."

The corners of Carrie's mouth pulled down. "And what will Frank say about it?" she added. "He's hardly going to be pleased."

Together, they walked down the corridor towards the caretaker's storeroom, where they waited for several minutes. Oscar thumped the wall hard when Rose strolled in from another doorway.

"Where've you _been_?" Carrie demanded. "You're five minutes late. What do you think Frank's going to say?"

Rose smiled warily. "I, uh…" she began. "I've just been talking to ah, Donovan about sports and what the stimuli do to the brain."

Snorting, Oscar roughly pulled away the light switch to reveal a finger-scanner and jammed his thumb onto it. With a small _ping_, the door unlocked itself. They filed in, in one line – Carrie leading and Oscar closing the door behind them.

Rose pulled the lever and _fwoom_, their stomachs were left behind as the lift plunged down into darkness.

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**So... what's going to happen next? (I don't know, I'm working on it). Meanwhile, please click the big yellow 'Review' button below, thanks :)**


	2. CSR200

_Rose pulled the lever and _fwoom_, their stomachs were left behind as the lift plunged down into darkness. _

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They rode down in silence, the only noise the slight whirring and clicking of the levers and pulleys and their sudden intake of air as their school-clothes whipped off and were replaced by sleek black spy outfits.

As they stepped out from the lift, a shadowed figure rose. "_There_ you are!" Frank exclaimed in annoyance. "What do you think you're playing at?"

"We weren't playing at anything—" Oscar began.

The other chair swiveled around to reveal Stark. All three teen-spies groaned inwardly.

"See, Frank?" he said casually. "I told you that you can't trust _kids_." He placed specific emphasis on the word 'kids'. "That supervisor who dreamed it up? Leonard Bicknall, wasn't he called?"

"Lenny! Our old school caretaker?" Rose cut in.

Stark glared at Rose. "Yeah, well, James Blond was right – the program should've been stopped." At a sharp look from Frank, Stark stopped talking and began muttering and grumbling to himself instead.

Rose stepped forward. "So, Frank," she addressed him. "What did you call us here for?"

"Yeah," Carrie continued. "It'd better be good because, you know…" She shared a look with Oscar who was scowling ferociously.

Frank coughed lightly. "Because there has been a complete mission-dry-up," Frank started, "it would be a good idea to take you off-duty for a while. The missions we have are not appropriate for teenagers.

"Which is why I'm giving you these gadgets." Frank walked towards another bench set further away from the lift entrance.

He returned carrying a black briefcase. Opening it, Oscar caught the gleam of three shiny objects.

"What are they?" he asked curiously.

Rose answered before Frank could. "They're gaming devices, and pretty high tec, too. The one my sister has is block-like."

Frank's eyebrow rose.

"Sorry," Rose quickly apologized, blushing.

He continued as if there was no interruption. "As Rose said, they're gaming devices. Not only that, I'm able to voice- and video-communicate you with them, so there's no worry of holding a pencil up to your ear and looking ridiculous."

"Can we play games on them?" Oscar asked.

"Pacman has been pre-installed. You can download other programs yourself via wireless Internet," Frank answered devilishly. "I've gotten quite good at Pacman, so if any of you wants to take me on, I'm up for it."

"Whenever you get an incoming call, the CSR-200 will vibrate. However, if you get a video call, the screen will flicker. You can only receive video calls if you're actually playing a game, though."

"Is that what it's called?" Carrie asked. "The CSR-200?"

Frank nodded vaguely. "Remember that it's a work in progress. You can send _and_ receive a maximum of ten video- and voice-calls, so don't waste them irrationally."

"Trust me, we won't," the three chimed.

Stark rested his eyes on Oscar. "You are dismissed."

As the three spies trooped into the lift, Frank called after them, "Remember, if any of you wants to verse me in Pacman—!"

The lift doors shut with a soft _click_.

Carrie, Oscar and Rose rode up in silence. Once on ground-level, Oscar slowly turned the doorknob to the passageway. Poking his head outside, he scouted for fellow classmates. None.

He slipped quietly out of the storeroom, Rose and Carrie following.

They each took separate paths to the homeroom, Oscar stopping by Mr. Flatley's office to say 'hello' to a very disgruntled Avril.

"Doesn't she know…?" Avril grumbled. "All those trees for a feeble cause… oh, hi Oscar!"

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"So if we divide this number by _x_," Mr. Drayson droned on. "What will we get?"

It was his first day of teaching and Rose's and Carrie's first lesson with him. The class was already bored.

_Even Rose isn't taking notes_, Carrie observed. But then again, Rose was sitting next to Donovan, probably talking about sports. _That's funny_, Carrie thought. _I don't remember Rose ever being a sports fanatic_. Then she shrugged. _Maybe she's been changing and I haven't noticed_.

She turned her attention back to Mr. Drayson and the algebra subject at hand. Gripping her blue pen, she studiously took notes while thinking on the new development.

The bald old man continued scribbling across the board with a whiteboard marker. In a matter of minutes, he'd run out of space.

"Blast!" he muttered, turning to his class. Raising his voice a little, he asked, "has everyone written it down?"

Realizing that no one was listening, he dropped the whiteboard marker onto the desk and stormed out of the room.

Chaos erupted: paper airplanes flew around the room; Donovan was hit on the back of the head with a scrunched-up paper ball; Davina checked her hair for split ends.

Rose looked around her in confusion. Sudden realization came to her as she realized that she'd basically skipped another Arithmetic class. Her parents would skin her!

Removing her exercise book from her bag, Rose began taking down notes as fast as she could. Leaning over to whisper to Carrie, she asked, "Did you take notes? I totally missed everything. If so, can I copy off you?"

Carrie lifted an eyebrow. "Not taking notes?" she teased. "That's not Rose at all! Are you sure you're not an alien in Rose's body?"

She playfully held the CSR-200 beside Rose's head and pushed a few buttons. "Oooh!" Carrie said, surprised. "It works!"

Rose rolled her eyes. "Of _course_ it works, Carrie. Why else would Frank give them to us?"

"To muck around with?" Carried suggested. Then her eyes widened as she felt vibrations from the CSR-200 travelling up her arm.

"Rose," she said softly. "I think Frank's trying to contact us."

She was reluctant to leave, but Rose had to go – her curiousity was piqued. _I wonder what Frank and Stark have got for us… What's so important that even _Oscar_ can't know about it?_

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**Hope you liked it :) What's all the mystery about?  
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**Chapter 3 will be coming soon, so you'll find out ;)  
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	3. Back to the Beginning

**This is just a filler chapter, but then maybe, just _maybe_ you'll be able to understand part of what the secrecy's about! Anyways, enjoy :D **

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_A fortnight ago…_

"Stick to the walls, agents, stick to the walls," Stark murmured, partly to himself and partly to his 'fellow' agents.

A boy and a girl commando-crawled behind him. Debris littered the ground and where there was no rubbish, leaves heavy with rainwater piled up.

"What if the wall doesn't offer much protection?" the boy hissed to his blond companion, who giggled.

"Shush!" Stark snapped. "We're in enemy territory here and you _must_ remember that SKUL don't mess around. Now, Daisy, Blane, go over your plan. I can assist you to the hidden entrance, no further."

Daisy sighed dramatically. "We slip in, talk to the Dixon-Halliday woman, send the retrieved information then slip back out again. Simple."

"Yeah, and I'll bust some moves when necessary," Blane continued.

They were getting closer to the gates now. One gate was held on by one rusty hinge. The black paint was fading and peeling and every time the wind blew, the gates would give off a horrible groaning noise.

Daisy looked sideways at Blane. "Need maintenance, right?"

The boy grunted. Black clothes were not meant for sunny days. Leaves rustled in a slow breeze.

"You would've thought that all these trees would've shaded us," Stark said conversationally. "Looks like I was wrong—"

Rolling her eyes, Daisy commented, "Maybe it has something to it being so close to noon. You know, when the sun is directly overhead and there's like, practically _no_ shade?"

"Watch it, Millar," Stark muttered. "We're getting closer."

Sticking to the shadows, the three slipped through the gates and crawled deeper into the overgrown garden. The overlooking building was made of tan bricks and appeared in disrepair.

"Why so secretive?" Blane asked. "It's not like there's _anyone_ in there."

Daisy sighed. "Blane," she explained, "That's the point. If it looks like there's no one inside, the less likely activity will be picked up. _And_ it would be perfect for a SKUL base."

"Right…" Blane nodded knowingly.

Stark sat between a rose bush and a battered vegetable garden, breathing deeply in and out. Without opening his eyes, he reached into his suit pocket and withdrew three devices and passed two to Blane and Daisy.

The other two agents waited patiently, one fiddling with his shoelaces and the other checking for split ends. Finally, they could bear it no longer.

"What are they for?" "When are we going in?" "What are you doing?" "Don't you think it's hot?"

Questions tumbled from the teenagers. Stark held up a hand to silence them.

Inhaling dramatically one last time, Stark began. "These are the new CSR-200's, a new device the Technology Unit has been working on. Normally, you would be able to send voice- and video-calls. However, this edition has been modified… they're now able to be hooked around your ears but because of this, you will only be able to voice-call each other, although I doubt you'll need too." Stark frowned. "You'd better do this job well, agents," he continued. "If you fail, you won't have a second chance and there's never been such a good opportunity to strike. And of _course_ it's hot, Blane! Didn't you hear Daisy? It's _noon_."

"_Right_," Blane said while Daisy nodded.

"Do you want us to record a map of this SKUL base?" Daisy asked.

Her companion nudged her with his elbow. "What are you _thinking_, Dais?" he hissed. "It's more work for us!"

She raised and lowered one shoulder. "But it's beneficial to MI9, isn't it? Then it's worth the trouble."

Stark flapped his hands. "Quickly, agents," he said, waving them away. "Before you're caught. Good luck."

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**So... what do you think? The next chapter will take a while to be uploaded (yeah, heaps of assignments and work at the moment) but I promise they will be. And we'll be seeing some of Mr Flatley and his random ways ;)**

**Meanwhile, why don't you click the big yellow 'review' button below?**

**Again, sorry for the short chapter. The next chapter will be longer xP  
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	4. Tuner

**A/N, just thought the title of the chapter's funny. Tuner... tuna. Get it ? :L**

**Sorry about the long wait ! I've been really busy and have now resorted to 'bulk' writing chapters to release randomly. This is a filler chapter to inform you guys what's going on at school.**

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_In HQ…_

"So what is it, Frank?" Carrie tapped her fingers impatiently on the desktop and glanced at Rose, who was spinning a pen.

_Spinning a pen?_ Carrie looked on as the ballpoint circled Rose's fingers then landed back in her palm. She shrugged inwardly. _Whatever. The important thing is the mission._

"Team," Frank smiled stiffly. "We've encountered a small problem—"

"SKUL is trying to hack into the MI9 system again?" Rose interrupted.

Frank raised an eyebrow. "No… but it _does_ involve SKUL—"

Rose beamed. "Then an agent has been taken off duty and one of us needs to take their place?"

"Well, yes, but…" Frank began.

The teenager sat back and smiled.

"No."

Rose's face was wiped clean of her smile. "I was wrong?"

Carrie snorted. Frank grinned. "Well, in a sense. However, you were _mostly_ correct. Two agents have been taken off duty – they've been captured and are being held in SKUL headquarters. We have tried negotiating with SKUL; even offering large amounts of money. But they won't accept the offer…"

"That's odd," Carrie noted. "The Grand Master would usually _jump_ at an opportunity to get free money."

"Yes, Carrie," Frank readily agreed. "The Grand Master would. But what is so important that he can't or won't take the money?"

"The hostages?" Rose piped up, recovering from her previous blunder. "Are they important?"

"It does," Frank said sadly. "And Rose, you are going to be badly affected by this."

ooo

"I don't understand," Avril grumbled to Oscar. "Why do we have to use _posters_ to advertise the dance? Why can't we just walk from class to class with _one_ flyer and advertise that way?"

"Was that a rhetorical question?" Oscar replied absent-mindedly, fiddling with his new CSR-200. There was a screen the half the size of the whole gadget. Underneath, there were several buttons: one red, one blue, one green and one black. There were also arrow keys and a small number pad.

From a distance, it could've easily been passed off as a calculator.

Turning the object around, Oscar noticed a switch on one of the sides. _This must be the power button_, he thought. Inquisitive, he flicked it on.

Avril replied, frustrated, "of _course_ that wasn't a rhetorical question! I mean, what's more important than the environment? Without trees, we wouldn't have books to learn from." She peered over Oscar's shoulder. "What's that?" she referred to the gadget.

"It's my mp3," Oscar replied quickly, then wished he hadn't. "I mean… it's… a battery-powered calculator?" he finished weakly.

"Ugh!" Avril cried out. "I can't believe that you'd actually _use_ one of those things! Batteries are non-recyclable, yet we still continue to use them?" Shaking her head, she walked away from Oscar. The bright pink poster dangled precariously from a pin.

Frowning, Oscar walked into the library and sat down to listen to the information that was pouring in. He fiddled with the tuner he'd discovered.

"_On the other hand, computers are smarter than humans…"_

"_I can't believe it! She said my nail polish was rubbish!" _

Another turn of the tuner.

"_Rose, Carrie, I need you down at HQ. Now." _

Hand paused halfway towards retuning, Oscar was flabbergasted.

"_And don't tell Oscar a word of this. He will be the most affected. Quickly!"_

"_Yes, Frank. Rose and I are on our way."_

_What's going on?_ Oscar wondered.

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**Once again, sorry for the short chapter ! I'll try to make the characters as less OOC as possible. Rose will soon be over Donovan :D**

**So now, what's the secret mission ? I might have a shot at uploading later today.**

**500 hits and counting :)**

**Meanwhile, please review !**


	5. False Jade

**I'm so sorry for not updating for so long ! [I actually have been pretty busy, and stoopid writers' block TT_TT]**

**I hope you enjoy this chapter ! It's probably the longest yet. All the action's with Blane and Daisy... there's a twist at the end, though.  
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Daisy crept along the dark passageways with Blane at her side. How long had she been here? She didn't know. What time was it? She didn't know. She longed to check her watch, but this was the most crucial part of the mission. If they failed, then all would fail.

_Thud, thud, thud_.

"What was that?" Blane whispered hoarsely. He was exhausted. His thighs and calves burned from squatting and running in short bursts. Nothing he'd ever done would come close to this test of endurance. Daisy was panting, eyes glazed.

She didn't answer.

"Someone's coming," he said and dragged her down behind a stack of crates. It was uncomfortable and dark. Blane could hear the pounding of his heart.

_Clop, clop, clop._

Whoever it was, they were coming closer. Blane hoped that they wouldn't look in their direction. He would be too worn out to fight them if they were spotted.

Soon, a pair of glossy black shoes came into view. Both young spies held their breath. _Please, oh, please, oh, please, don't let them find us!_

Almost as if his thoughts had acted as a beacon, the high heels moved closer. It was a woman.

"Well, well, what have we here?" she mused.

From what Blane could see, the woman was well over fourty. Before he could reply, a cloth came down over his mouth. Blane inhaled in relief. _At least it's a quick end_.

ooo

Daisy woke in an upright position. She was trussed up like a chicken, hands tied firmly behind her back. What surprised her were her surroundings. She was seated in a plush red chair. The room was elaborately furnished with modern furniture. There was an office desk at one end, with a large wall-window behind it. Bookshelves lined parts of the wall. In between, there were many framed artworks.

_This can't be one of the Grand Master's secret bases!_ Daisy thought dazedly. _But… why am I tied up?_ She strained against the knots when something hit her mentally. _Where's Blane? Where's my CSR-200?_ She looked around her frantically.

"Looking for someone, hun?"

Daisy looked up, surprised. "Who are _you_?" she demanded. "What have you done with my friend? Where did you put my mp3?" The lady was old enough to be her mother, and she looked kindly enough as well. But there was something in her that chilled Daisy.

The lady smiled politely and pointedly ignored Daisy's questions. "Your friend, dear?"

Daisy nodded weakly.

"He's awake, but something seems to be disagreeing with him. I sent him off to clean up in the bathroom a few minutes ago. He's only a little sick," she reassured Daisy when she saw the horrified look on her face. "Now," she continued. "Let me introduce myself. I am Jade Dixon-Halliday."

_Ping_. "Jade Dixon-Halliday?" Daisy repeated, unsure if she heard correctly.

Jade nodded brusquely. "And I believe," she said abruptly, changing the subject, "that your friend is quite alright."

Daisy stood—and fell back. She'd forgotten about the rope. "Do you mind untying me…?" she began imploringly.

Jade jumped to her senses. "Oh, of course, dear, that would be no problem." She tugged at the ends of the rope and they fell away.

_Why didn't I think of that?_ Daisy thought.

She stood up and stretched, smiling vaguely at Blane, who was looking sick and dizzy.

"Well?" Blane asked.

Daisy glared at him. "'Well' what?"

Blane threw up his hands and groaned. "Aren't you going to ask me how I am?"

"I _would've_ if you'd thought to check on me and wake me up before you were sick all over!"

He flinched. "I did. At least, I tried."

"Oh." Daisy blushed. "Then, how are you?"

Jade watched all this, a bemused look on her face. "I think we've got some business to sort out." She _clopped_ over to the office desk. "Take a seat."

Daisy strode forward, with Blane trailing uncertainly behind. They glared at each other.

"Ladies first," Blane said mockingly, bowing and gesticulating.

Daisy sniffed and slid into the chair. It was one of those swiveling office chairs, with adjustable height. Blane sat awkwardly next to her, uncertain of what to do.

"Let me begin: my name is Jade Dixon-Halliday."

The teens shot a quick look at each other. _Jade Dixon-Halliday_, Stark had said before they'd been given the mission_, is the one we're trying to find. Once you find her, act innocent and find out all you can about her._

"Mrs. Dixon-Halliday," Daisy began formally, "I'm Daisy, and my friend here is Blane."

"Daisy, Blane," Jade inclined her head gracefully. "Pleased to meet you. Now let's get down to business: what were you doing, creeping around in my warehouse?"

"Oh, we were just inspecting the goods," Blane offered. "One of those surprise tests."

Jade nodded, a glint in her eye.

_We have just become unsuspecting prey_, Daisy noted and shivered.

"Are you cold?"

"Nah, just a sudden chill."

"The air-con's not on," Blane quipped, and Daisy shot him a withering look.

_You idiot!_, her eyes said.

Jade laughed. It was false and hollow. "Are you sure that's the truth? Because there's a whole lot you're hiding there."

A wave of heat swept over Daisy's cheeks. She felt inside her pockets. Nothing. "What did you do with my mp3?" she squeaked.

"That wasn't an mp3," Jade answered flatly. "It was a CSR-200, a new communications device used by M.I.9. What I'd like to know is what you're doing with it. Who you're working for. And why you're here. Then I'll let you go."

"How do you know that we're agen—!" Blane jumped out of his seat, only to be pulled down again by Daisy. "I mean, you can't tell by our uniforms," he continued unperturbed. "And it's not like we have any identification on us."

Jade smiled coolly and batted her eyelashes. "Because," she began leeringly. "I was informed by my son."

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**So... how did you like it ? Please Rate & Review ! :)**

**I'm currently trying to fit Mr. Flatley and Mrs. King into the next few chapters, but I'm failing horribly D:**

**I mean, CBBC has already nabbed all my insane ideas :( Oh wells. Let's wait for the next chapter, shall we ? I'll try to update asap !  
**


	6. Traitor Oscar Cole?

**Drama, drama, and more drama! I still have a few chapters to write, though :s At least I incorporated Mr. Flatley into this one, even if he's only mentioned in one line! :L**

**The story's point of view keeps changing, so I hope that it isn't too confusing for you guys.**

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"No, you can't be serious!" Daisy burst out. "Your son has no way of contacting you; he doesn't even know where you are!"

Blane readily agreed.

Jade's icy eyes bored into Daisy's. "Yes, he does."

ooo

Rose and Carrie stepped away from the lift doors, which had begun to close. Frank was pacing the length of the HQ, body tensed.

He looked like a lion, muscles coiled and prepared to spring. Every few seconds or so, he would glance at his watch, frowning and muttering.

Carrie motioned silently for Rose to follow her, who shook her head firmly.

"Frank?" she called out unsteadily. Rose _hated_ feeling unsure of herself, and here she was, confusion in every corner of the room.

Frank turned dazedly, eyes wiped of all emotion. "We…" he began falteringly.

"What, Frank?" Carrie asked, impatience etched into her face.

"We have a traitor in our midst."

ooo

Jade efficiently tied up the two young spies, grumbling as she did so, praying that the chloroform would work. She'd searched their clothes and belongings, and, as she'd suspected, there were two MI9 identification cards.

_Daisy Millar_, the first one read, _trainer_. There was nothing else, apart from an identification barcode—which Jade knew was useless to her, at least, for now—and a photograph of the girl. The woman glanced at the sleeping form of the girl, then at the photograph. She shrugged. She was only doing her job; all she wanted was to get her son back.

Jade discarded the clean white plastic card, and picked out another. _St. Hope's High School_. Wasn't that the school Oscar went to? Daisy obviously had some connection with him…

She moved the card to the bottom of the stack for future reference, then stared at the boy. He reminded her, in every way, of one of the new agents at MI9. She glanced briefly at his school ID card. _Blane Whittaker_. "Of course!" she mused. "Whittaker and Millar…"

She tucked them into her business jacket pocket and signaled for her assistants to haul them away. Jade hesitated, then carefully and casually placed the two CSR-200's into her handbag.

"Check if they're properly bound and gagged," she ordered. "Take them into the interrogation room; I'll be there in an hour. Now, someone get me a coffee."

ooo

"Who?" Carrie involuntarily burst out, clearly shocked. "A traitor?"

Rose quickly made the connection. "Frank must mean Oscar," she explained to a confused Carrie. "He's the only one who actually knows about HQ. I doubt it would be Frank or you. And I know for a _fact_ that it wasn't me," she added before Carrie could butt in. "But how he did it, I have no idea."

"Frank?" Carrie rolled her eyes and snapped her fingers twice. _Click!_ "Snap out of it!" _Click!_

"Oh, yes," Frank replied, looking flustered. "It's Oscar, all right. That was why I asked you two to come down. He'll be coming down himself any minute now. Act innocent."

Carrie was puzzled. "How do you know?"

"I traced the new frequency tapping in—it was Oscar's. If I know him as well as I think I do, he'll be coming down."

Rose nodded. "Meanwhile," she announced, "we should be getting down to business. I'll check out where he is."

Carrie made herself comfortable on the spinney office chair and began typing and clicking.

"Rose," Frank said quietly. "I need to talk to you… in private."

The spy followed him into the interrogation room, where Frank dutifully switched off all the microphones and speakers. The room was bare of everything but the necessities: a table, three sturdy chairs, a fluorescent light, a torch (Rose guessed that this was something in the case of emergencies), a spiral-bound notepad and a biro.

Frank settled into one of the chairs and leaned back, gesturing that Rose should sit.

"What is it, Frank?" Rose asked. "You've been tense all morning."

He sighed. "It's just that the information about the betrayal came with a price," he muttered. "One of our two agents had switched on their CSR-200 while a conversation with Jade Dixon-Halliday was taking place. She confessed that her son had given her the information, then drugged our agents.

"From what I heard, she stripped them of all their gadgets and identification cards, then had them taken down to the interrogation room, where she would question them. I didn't hear anything after that, though—the signal just seems to have disappeared. However, I managed to trace the old signal to an office.

"The trio should be somewhere around there. Just wait until Stark finds out."

"Stark?" Rose started. "He organized the mission?"

Frank smiled. "Trust you to pick up the details, Rose. Now, let's get cracking."

He began to stand up, but Rose jumped up from her seat and pulled him back down again. "Who were the two agents?" she asked desperately. "What identification cards did they have on them?"

Frank hesitated, and Rose saw a conflict going on in his mind. "I had hoped that it wouldn't come to this," he said softly, shaking his head remorsefully. "This will hurt you, Rose—Daisy Millar and Blane Whittaker have been taken hostage."

ooo

Oscar raced down the corridors, listening intently to his CSR-200 as he went. He ignored the curious stares from fellow schoolmates, and only slowed to a power walk as he saw Mr. Flatley walking towards him.

"In a hurry, aren't we, Oscar?" he grinned insanely.

Oscar nodded hurriedly and broke into a run.

_We have a traitor in our midst_. Those words cut into him like a sharp-edged knife. He'd done no such thing! Who'd said that about him? Why would he betray his friends or fellow agents?

Finally, he reached the cleaner's storeroom. Without bothering to check for onlookers, he twisted the doorknob before remembering it was locked. A grimace of annoyance flashed fleetingly across his face as he roughly pulled aside the light switches and pressed his thumb to the pad. The door swung open with an audible _click_.

Oscar hurried in and locked the door behind him. He needed to get down there as quickly as possible, to sort out this mess before the web got even more tangled. He pulled on the hidden lever and felt his stomach being left behind.

ooo

He was too late. The spies were calmly tapping away at the computers while Frank was pacing the headquarters, looking anxious.

"I'd like you to know," Oscar began, "that I am most certainly _not_ a traitor!"

Three heads snapped towards his direction. "What did you say?" Carrie asked incredulously. "Who's a traitor?"

"But I heard you say it! I'm not a traitor!"

"Of _course_ you aren't," Frank said matter-of-factly. "We all know that." He cast a glance at Rose, who was frowning at the monitor.

"Th-then… what was that about?" Oscar asked.

"A—" Frank said.

"A backstabbing person who we thought were friends!" Rose swung around in her chair, hatred and fire blazing in her eyes. "Someone who would harm their friends' friends just to get their way. Someone who puts themselves before others!"

It felt as if Rose had just slapped him.

* * *

**Did you like it? :D **

**Drama, drama and more drama, as I mentioned before. I've got to write another few chapters. No writer's block for a week! (I think that's because I've been doing Mathematics LOL)**

**The more reviews I get, the faster I will update *hint* *hint***

**I should be able to post the sneak preview for chapter 7 on my profile soon! :D  
**


	7. Important Author's Note!

Hello guys - I know I haven't been on here in a while.

I guess I should just say it straight... I will not be continuing _The Circle Turns_. Though it was fun to write most of it (I still can't get over Blane/Daisy interaction, seriously) I just don't have the inspiration to continue on with it. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but it's better to tell you guys than to just leave you hanging, wondering whether I'll ever update again. In addition, I'm not allowing anybody to copy-paste the story and finish it off themselves, since I want to retain my own work.

On the other hand, you will be able to find me over on fictionpress under the pen name exkili . Yes, I am a major Kili fan.

Thanks guys! (:


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